Medical garment

ABSTRACT

Medical garments are disclosed, which are configured to minimally expose a patient. One embodiment, among others, includes a medical garment that is improved by providing a front opening, and a flap that substantially covers the front opening. The front opening is located near the chest area. The front opening includes an upper portion and a lower portion. The flap also includes an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion of the flap is connected to the upper portion of the front opening in a hinge-like fashion. The flap is configured to open at the lower portion. In another embodiment, among others, the improvement on the medical garment comprises at least two openings: an upper front opening, and a lower front opening. The upper front opening is located near the chest area, while the lower front opening is located near the abdomen area. In this embodiment, the medical garment further comprises an upper flap that is configured to substantially cover the upper front opening, and a lower flap that is configured to substantially cover the lower front opening. A method of manufacturing a medical garment is also presented. One embodiment of the method comprises the steps of providing a selectably-openable upper front opening and a selectably-openable lower front opening. The selectably-openable upper front opening is located near the chest area of the medical garment, while the selectably-openable lower front opening is located near the abdomen area of the medical garment. The selectably-openable upper front opening is substantially covered by an upper flap, which is configured to selectably open and close over the upper front opening. The selectably-openable lower front opening is substantially covered by a lower flap, which is configured to selectably open and close over the lower front opening.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to medical equipment and, moreparticularly, to medical gowns.

BACKGROUND

Medical garments, such as medical gowns that are used for patientexamination, are relatively ubiquitous in hospitals and doctor'soffices. These garments are normally intended to provide some degree ofmodesty for the patient, in order to minimize exposure and, hence, thedegree of discomfort that a patient may have during the course of, forexample, a physical examination.

In order to minimally expose the patient, various hospital gowns havebeen proposed. Examples of such gowns include designs by Wheeler-Dickson(U.S. Pat. No. D478,203), Truitt (U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,086), Belcher(U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,083), Gordon (U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,173), and Cohen(U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,930,161 and 5,097,536). While these gowns may reduceexposure to a certain extent, these gowns nevertheless have variousshortcomings. In view of these shortcomings, a need exists in theindustry for an improved medical garment.

SUMMARY

Several embodiments of the invention include medical garments that areconfigured to minimally expose a patient. In that regard, oneembodiment, among others, includes a medical garment that is improved byproviding a front opening, and a flap that substantially covers thefront opening. The front opening is located near the chest area. Thefront opening includes an upper portion and a lower portion. The flapalso includes an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion ofthe flap is connected to the upper portion of the front opening in ahinge-like fashion. The flap is configured to open at the lower portion.

In another embodiment, among others, the improvement on the medicalgarment comprises at least two openings: an upper front opening, and alower front opening. The upper front opening is located near the chestarea, while the lower front opening is located near the abdomen area. Inthis embodiment, the medical garment further comprises an upper flapthat is configured to substantially cover the upper front opening, and alower flap that is configured to substantially cover the lower frontopening.

In accordance with another embodiment, a method of manufacturing amedical garment is presented. In that embodiment, the method comprisesthe steps of providing a selectably-openable upper front opening and aselectably-openable lower front opening. The selectably-openable upperfront opening is located near the chest area of the medical garment,while the selectably-openable lower front opening is located near theabdomen area of the medical garment. The selectably-openable upper frontopening is substantially covered by an upper flap, which is configuredto selectably open and close over the upper front opening. Theselectably-openable lower front opening is substantially covered by alower flap, which is configured to selectably open and close over thelower front opening.

Other systems, devices, methods, features, and advantages will be orbecome apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of thefollowing drawings and detailed description. It is intended that allsuch additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be includedwithin this description, be within the scope of the present invention,and be protected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with referenceto the following drawings. The components in the drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a front view (or ventral view) of a patient wearing anembodiment of a medical garment with upper and lower selectably-openableflaps, in which both flaps of the medical garment are closed.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the patient wearing the medical garment ofFIG. 1, in which the upper flap of the medical garment is obliquelyopened in a substantially upward and rightward direction.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the patient wearing the medical garment ofFIG. 1, in which the upper flap of the medical garment is obliquelyopened in a substantially upward and leftward direction.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the patient wearing the medical garment ofFIG. 1, in which the lower flap of the medical garment is opened in asubstantially vertical and upward direction.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the patient wearing the medical garmentof FIG. 1, in which the upper flap of the medical garment is opened in asubstantially vertical and upward direction.

FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the patient wearing the medical garmentof FIG. 1, showing one embodiment, among others, in which both flaps areconfigured to open in a substantially vertical and upward direction.

FIG. 6 is a front view (or ventral view) of the patient wearing anotherembodiment of a medical garment having upper flaps and a lower flap.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the patient wearing the medical garment ofFIG. 6, in which the right upper flap is obliquely opened in asubstantially downward and leftward direction.

FIG. 8 is a front view (or ventral view) of the medical garment of FIG.1 without the patient.

FIG. 9 is a back view (or dorsal view) of the medical garment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a front view (or ventral view) of yet another embodiment of amedical garment having two openings, in which both openings compriseflaps that are configured to open in a substantially vertical anddownward direction.

FIG. 11 is a front view (or ventral view) of yet another embodiment of amedical garment having two openings, in which both openings compriseflaps that are configured to open in a substantially lateral direction.

FIG. 12 is a front view (or ventral view) of yet another embodiment of amedical garment having an upper opening and a lower opening, in whicheach of the openings comprises two flaps.

FIG. 13 is a back view (or dorsal view) of yet another embodiment of amedical garment, which is configured to selectively expose differentportions of a patient's back.

FIG. 14 is shows the medical garment of FIG. 13, in which the upperportion and lower portion are selectably open.

FIG. 15 is a front view (or ventral view) of one embodiment of the frontof the garment of FIGS. 13 and 14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments asillustrated in the drawings. While several embodiments are described inconnection with these drawings, there is no intent to limit theinvention to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed herein. On thecontrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, andequivalents.

As noted above, while various medical garments exist in the industry,those medical garments provide deficient coverage of a patient, therebyoften unnecessarily overexposing a patient. Various embodiments ofmedical garments are shown with reference to FIGS. 1 through 15. Theseembodiments provide one or more selectably openable portions on amedical garment, thereby providing greater coverage of the patient. Inother embodiments, the opening mechanism is improved, thereby reducingexposure of the patient.

FIG. 1 is a front view (or a ventral view) of a patient wearing oneembodiment, among others, of a medical garment 100. As shown in theembodiment of FIG. 1, the medical garment 100 has at least two frontopenings, including an upper front opening 110 and a lower front opening120, which are covered by an upper flap 115 and a lower flap 125,respectively. The upper opening 110 is located near the chest area ofthe patient, while the lower opening 120 is located near the abdomenarea of the patient.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the patient wearing the medical garment 100 ofFIG. 1. The upper flap 115 of the medical garment 100 obliquely opens ina substantially upward and rightward direction. As shown in FIG. 2, in afemale patient, the upward and rightward opening of the upper flap 115permits exposure of only the left breast while maintaining substantialcoverage of the right breast of the patient. Similarly, as shown in FIG.3, opening the upper flap 115 in an upward and leftward directionpermits exposure of only the right breast while maintaining substantialcoverage of the left breast of the patient.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the garment 100 further comprises a flapsecuring mechanism 130, 135 that permits the upper flap 115 toreleasably close over the upper opening 110. The securing mechanism canbe a buttoning mechanism, Velcro®, a zipper, a hook-and-eye fasteningmechanism, snaps, adhesive (e.g., tape or glue), any combination ofthese, or other known securing mechanisms. Thus, for example, if thesecuring mechanism is Velcro®, then the upper flap 115 can include oneVelcro® 135 strip (or patch) on the lower-inner portion of the upperflap 115, while the upper opening includes the mating Velcro®counterpart 130 on the lower-outer portion of the upper opening 110. Inother words, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the inside bottom of the upperflap 115 is configured to releasably mate with the outside bottom of theupper opening 110 using, for example, Velcro®.

In addition to the securing mechanism 130, 135, which closes the upperflap 115 over the upper front opening, the garment 100 can also includea holding mechanism 140 that is configured to hold the upper flap 115open above the front opening 110. Similar to the flap securing mechanism130, 135, the flap holding mechanism 140 can be fabricated of Velcro®.In that regard, the flap securing mechanism can be one strip (or patch)of Velcro® that is secured to the exterior bottom of the upper flap 115,with a mating Velcro® counterpart 140 located toward the upper portionof the front opening 110. Thus, when the upper flap 115 opens upwardfrom the bottom, the Velcro® strips (or patches) 140 releasably matewith each other, thereby exposing one or both of the patient's breasts.

Unlike other medical garments, such as the Wheeler-Dickson gown or theBelcher garment, in which a flap opens from the top and falls downward,the upper flap 115 of the medical garment 100 in FIGS. 1 through 3 opensupward from the bottom. One advantage of such a configuration, which isnot realizable by either the Wheeler-Dickson gown or the Belchergarment, is that the garment 100 of FIG. 1 naturally defaults to a“closed” position, due to gravity, when the patient is sitting orstanding upright. To the contrary, the Wheeler-Dickson gown and theBelcher garment default to an “open” position, due to theirdownward-opening configuration. Thus, the downward-opening garmentsexhibit a greater tendency to expose the patient than the upward-openinggarment of FIGS. 1 through 3.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the patient wearing the medical garment 100 ofFIG. 1. The lower flap 125 of the medical garment 100 opens in asubstantially vertical and upward direction. As shown in FIG. 4, thelower front opening 120 opens independently of the upper front opening110. Thus, when a physician wishes to examine, for example, a pelvicregion or an abdominal region of a patient, the physician canselectively open the lower front opening 120 without exposing the uppertorso of the patient. Compared to conventional hospital gowns, whichoverexpose the patient, the selective opening of the lower front opening120 provides reduced exposure of the patient.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lower front flap 125 opens in a substantiallyvertical and upward direction. In that regard, the lower front flap 125again “defaults” to a closed position, rather than an open position.Similar to the upper front flap 115, the lower front flap 125 can alsobe releasably secured to the lower front opening 120 by a securingmechanism, such as, for example, Velcro®, a buttoning mechanism, azipper, a hook-and-eye fastening mechanism, snaps, adhesive, acombination thereof, or other known mechanisms. Also, similar to theupper front flap 115, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower front flap125 can also be opened in a substantially oblique manner, rather thansubstantially vertically. In that regard, an examining physician canselectively expose either the right side, the left side, or both sidesof the patient without unnecessarily exposing the entire lower body ofthe patient.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the patient wearing the medical garment100 of FIG. 1. The upper flap 115 of the medical garment opens in asubstantially vertical and upward direction. As shown in FIG. 5A, theselectively openable upper front flap 115 permits limited exposure ofthe patient, thereby providing a greater degree of modesty for thepatient.

FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the patient wearing the medical garment100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 5B shows one embodiment, among others, in which bothflaps 110, 120 are configured to open in a substantially vertical andupward direction. As noted in FIG. 5B, by providing more than oneselectively-openable flap 115, 125, a physician can examine a patientwithout exposing the patient in areas that are not the subject ofexamination.

FIG. 6 is a front view (or ventral view) of the patient wearing anotherembodiment of a medical garment 600 having upper flaps 615, 635 and alower flap 625. As shown in FIG. 6, in one embodiment, among others, themedical garment 600 includes an upper front opening 610 and a lowerfront opening 620. The upper front opening 610 is covered by two flaps615, 635, which are releasably secured to cover the upper front opening610. The lower front opening 620 is covered by a lower front flap 625,which is releasably secured to cover the lower front opening 620.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the upper front opening 610 is carved intoan “M” pattern to further reduce patient exposure. This is shown ingreater detail with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a front view of thepatient wearing the medical garment of FIG. 6, in which the upper flaps615, 635 are obliquely openable in a substantially downward direction.As shown in FIG. 7, the “M” shaped opening permits the right upper flap615 to open in a substantially downward and leftward direction, whilepermitting the left upper flap 635 to open in a substantially downwardand rightward direction. Thus, unlike the embodiment of FIG. 1, forfemale patients, each breast is independently viewable withoutunnecessarily exposing the other breast. Also, the “M” shaped designresults in less fabric for the flaps 615, 635. The reduction in fabricresults in a corresponding reduction in weight for the flap, therebyreducing the likelihood that the flap will accidentally fall due togravity.

As shown in FIG. 7, the right flap 615 and the left flap 635 can furtherinclude flap securing mechanisms 640, 645, which are configured toreleasably secure the flaps 615, 635 over the upper front opening 610.Similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the flap securing mechanisms in thegarment 610 of FIGS. 6 and 7 can be Velcro®, snaps, buttoningmechanisms, hooks-and-eyes, adhesive, etc. Unlike the embodiment of FIG.1, the downward opening flaps default to an “open” position due togravity. For this reason, the garment 610 of FIGS. 6 and 7 need notinclude a flap opening mechanism to keep the flaps 615, 635 open.

FIG. 8 is a front view (or ventral view) of the medical garment 100 ofFIG. 1 without the patient. As shown in FIG. 8, in one embodiment, amongothers, the medical garment 100 has an upper front opening 110 coveredby an upper flap 115, and a lower front opening 120 covered by a lowerflap 125. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 8, the medical garment 100 caninclude various Velcro® patches 140, which can be used to secure theflaps 115, 125 in an open position.

FIG. 9 is a back view (or dorsal view) of the medical garment 100 ofFIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 9, the back of the medical garment 100 includesa back opening 920, which is preferably a slit that vertically traversesthe entire length of the back. This back opening 920 permits a patientto put on the medical garment 100 from the front. Once the patient hasdraped on the medical garment 100, the back opening can be 920 can beclosed with one or more ties 900, 915, such as those shown in FIG. 9. Inother words, once the patient has donned the medical garment 100, themedical garment 100 can be closed in the back by the ties 900, 915.While only two ties 900, 915 are shown in FIG. 9, it should beappreciated that additional ties can be added to further secure the backopening 920. Also, while ties 900, 915 are shown in FIG. 9, it should beappreciated that other securing mechanisms, such as Velcro®, buttons,hooks-and-eyes, zippers, adhesive, snaps, or other known mechanisms canbe used to close the back.

FIG. 10 is a front view (or ventral view) of yet another embodiment of amedical garment 1000 having two openings 110, 120. In the embodiment ofFIG. 10, both openings 110, 120 comprise flaps 1015, 1025 that areconfigured to open in a substantially vertical and downward direction.Again, as noted with reference to FIG. 1, by having multiple openings atvarious locations on the medical garment 1000, a physician canselectively expose the patient in only those areas that the physicianwishes to examine, rather than overexposing the entire patient.

FIG. 11 is a front view (or ventral view) of yet another embodiment of amedical garment 1100 having two openings. As shown in FIG. 11, bothopenings 110, 120 comprise flaps 1115, 1125 that are configured to openin a substantially lateral direction. While the two openings 110, 120permit a physician to selectively expose either the upper torso or thelower body, one disadvantage of this lateral-opening configuration isthat one side of the patient can be susceptible to overexposure,depending on the area of interest. For example, if the upper flap 1115opens from left to right, and the right breast of the patient is thearea of interest, then the lateral-opening garment 1100 of FIG. 11results in the exposure of both breasts, even though the physician mayonly wish to examine the right breast.

FIG. 12 is a front view (or ventral view) of yet another embodiment of amedical garment 1200, which remedies the deficiency in the garment 1100of FIG. 11. The embodiment of FIG. 12 includes an upper front opening110 and a lower front opening 120, each of which are covered by twolaterally-opening flaps. For example, the upper front opening 110 has anupper right flap 1215 and an upper left flap 1235, which cover the rightbreast and left breast, respectively. Thus, when a physician wishes toexamine only the left breast of a patient, the physician can selectivelyopen the upper left flap 1235, thereby leaving the right breastundisturbed. Likewise, should a physician wish to examine only the rightside of the patient's abdomen, the physician can selectively open thelower right flap 1225, thereby only exposing the lower right side of thepatient's abdomen.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show a back view (or dorsal view) of yet anotherembodiment of a medical garment 1300. The medical garment 1300 of FIG.13 is configured to selectively expose different portions of a patient'sback. As such, the medical garment 1300 comprises an upper vertical slit1310 and a lower vertical slit 1320, which are located in areascorresponding to a patient's upper torso and lower body, respectively.In addition to the upper and lower vertical slits 1310, 1320, themedical garment 1300 also includes a horizontal slit 1330 that forms aninverted “T” intersection with the upper vertical slit 1310. Thesevarious slits 1310, 1320, 1330 are held together by ties 1340, 1350,1360, 1370 or other known securing mechanisms, as outlined above.

As shown in FIG. 14, the upper vertical slit 1310 can be opened byuntying the upper ties 1340, 1350 that hold the upper vertical slit 1310together. Due to the inverted “T” intersection formed by the horizontalslit 1330 and the upper vertical slit 1310, the untying of the upperties 1340, 1350 permits the upper portion of the back to be exposedwithout undue exposure of the lower half of a patient's body. Similarly,the untying of the lower ties 1360, 1370 permits exposure of the lowerhalf of the back of a patient without unnecessarily exposing the upperback of the patient.

FIG. 15 is a front view (or ventral view) of one embodiment of thegarment 1300 of FIGS. 13 and 14. As shown in FIG. 15, the medicalgarment 1300 need not have openings on the front. Rather, as illustratedin FIG. 15, the medical garment 1300 can be configured for selectiveopening and closing of only predefined dorsal areas.

As shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 through 15, by strategicallyplacing various openings and flaps on a medical garment, a physician canexamine various areas of interest on a patient without exposing areas ofthe patient that will not be examined. Additionally, for someembodiments, by having flaps that open upwardly, against the force ofgravity, there is less likelihood of exposing the patient, since thedefault position for such flaps is “closed,” rather than “open.” Inother words, by having the flaps be hingedly connected at the top of theopening for some embodiments, there is less likelihood of exposure,insofar as the flap tends to remain closed over the opening due togravity. Also, as shown with reference to FIGS. 1 through 15, theopenings can be placed on the front, the back, the upper portion, thelower portion, or any combination thereof, in order to minimally exposethe patient during examination.

While various portions of medical garments have been described as upper,lower, front, and back portions, it should be appreciated by thosehaving skill in the art that these terms, in medical parlance, can alsobe referred to as superior, inferior, ventral, and dorsal, respectively.

Although exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it will beclear to those of ordinary skill in the art that a number of changes,modifications, or alterations to the invention as described can be made.For example, while the left side and right side are referenced from theperspective of the patient, it should be appreciated that the drawingscan just as easily be referenced from the perspective of the physicianwithout detrimentally affecting the scope of the disclosed embodiments.Also, while the garments have been shown in a preferred embodiment,where the ties are in the back, it should be appreciated that thegarments can just as easily be donned from back-to-front, therebysecuring the ties at the front of the patient, rather than the back. Forthose embodiments, it should be appreciated that “front” and “back” canbe interchanged, and “dorsal” and “ventral” can be interchanged. Allsuch changes, modifications, and alterations should therefore be seen aswithin the scope of the disclosure.

1. A medical garment having an improvement, the improvement comprising:a front opening located near the chest area, the front opening having anupper portion, the front opening further having a lower portion; and aflap configured to substantially cover the front opening, the flaphaving an upper portion, the flap further having a lower portion, theupper portion of the flap being hingedly connected to the upper portionof the front opening, the flap being configured to open from the lowerportion of the front opening.
 2. The garment of claim 1, furthercomprising: means for releasably securing the flap in a closed positionwhen the flap is substantially covering the front opening.
 3. Thegarment of claim 1, further comprising: a flap securing mechanismconfigured to releasably secure the flap in a closed position when theflap is substantially covering the front opening.
 4. The garment ofclaim 3, the flap securing mechanism being one selected from the groupconsisting of: velcro; a buttoning mechanism; a zipper; a hook-and-eyefastener; snaps; adhesive; and a combination thereof.
 5. The garment ofclaim 3, the flap comprising: an exterior side; and an interior sidehaving a first portion of the flap securing mechanism, the first portionof the flap securing mechanism being located toward the lower portion ofthe flap.
 6. The garment of claim 5, the garment further comprising: asecond portion of the flap securing mechanism, the second portion of theflap securing mechanism being configured to releasably mate with thefirst portion of the flap securing mechanism, the second portion of theflap securing mechanism being located toward the lower portion of thefront opening.
 7. The garment of claim 1, further comprising: a flapholding mechanism configured to hold the flap open above the frontopening when the flap is in an open position.
 8. The garment of claim 7,the flap holding mechanism being one selected from the group consistingof: velcro; a buttoning mechanism; a zipper; a hook-and-eye fastener;snaps; adhesive; and a combination thereof.
 9. The garment of claim 7,the flap comprising: an interior side; and an exterior side having afirst portion of the flap holding mechanism, the first portion of theflap holding mechanism being located toward the lower portion of theflap.
 10. The garment of claim 9, the garment further comprising: asecond portion of the flap holding mechanism, the second portion of theflap holding mechanism being configured to releasably mate with thefirst portion of the flap holding mechanism, the second portion of theflap holding mechanism being located toward the upper portion of thefront opening.
 11. The garment of claim 1, the flap being configured toopen in a substantially vertical and upward direction.
 12. The garmentof claim 1, the flap being configured to substantially expose the entirefront opening when opened in the substantially vertical and upwarddirection.
 13. The garment of claim 1, the flap being configured to openin a substantially oblique and upward direction.
 14. The garment ofclaim 1, the flap being configured to expose a lateral portion of thefront opening when opened in the substantially oblique and upwarddirection.
 15. A medical garment having an improvement, the improvementcomprising: an upper front opening located near the chest area; an upperflap configured to substantially cover the upper front opening; a lowerfront opening located near the abdomen area; and a lower flap configuredto substantially cover the lower front opening.
 16. The garment of claim15, further comprising: an upper flap securing mechanism configured toreleasably secure the upper flap in a closed position when the upperflap is substantially covering the upper front opening.
 17. The garmentof claim 16, the upper flap securing mechanism being one selected fromthe group consisting of: velcro; a buttoning mechanism; a zipper; ahook-and-eye fastener; snaps; adhesive; and a combination thereof. 18.The garment of claim 15, the upper flap being configured to open in asubstantially vertical and upward direction.
 19. The garment of claim15, the upper flap being configured to substantially expose the entireupper front opening when opened in the substantially vertical and upwarddirection.
 20. The garment of claim 15, the upper flap being configuredto open in a substantially oblique and upward direction.
 21. The garmentof claim 15, the upper flap being configured to expose a lateral portionof the upper front opening when opened in the substantially oblique andupward direction.
 22. The garment of claim 15, further comprising: alower flap securing mechanism configured to releasably secure the lowerupper flap in a closed position when the lower flap is substantiallycovering the lower front opening.
 23. The garment of claim 22, the lowerflap securing mechanism being one selected from the group consisting of:velcro; a buttoning mechanism; a zipper; a hook-and-eye fastener; snaps;adhesive; and a combination thereof.
 24. The garment of claim 15, thelower flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical andupward direction.
 25. The garment of claim 15, the lower flap beingconfigured to substantially expose the entire lower front opening whenopened in the substantially vertical and upward direction.
 26. Thegarment of claim 15, the lower flap being configured to open in asubstantially oblique and upward direction.
 27. The garment of claim 15,the lower flap being configured to expose a lateral portion of the lowerfront opening when opened in the substantially oblique and upwarddirection.
 28. The garment of claim 15, the upper flap being configuredto open in a substantially vertical and downward direction.
 29. Thegarment of claim 15, the lower flap being configured to open in asubstantially vertical and downward direction.
 30. The garment of claim15, the upper flap being configured to open in a substantially lateraldirection.
 31. The garment of claim 15, the lower flap being configuredto open in a substantially lateral direction.
 32. The garment of claim15, the upper flap comprising: a left flap; and a right flap.
 33. Thegarment of claim 32, the left flap being configured to open in asubstantially vertical and upward direction, the right flap beingconfigured to open in a substantially vertical and upward direction. 34.The garment of claim 32, the left flap being configured to open in asubstantially-oblique upward and rightward direction, the right flapbeing configured to open in a substantially-oblique upward and leftwarddirection.
 35. The garment of claim 32, the left flap being configuredto open in a substantially vertical and downward direction, the rightflap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and downwarddirection.
 36. The garment of claim 32, the left flap being configuredto open in a substantially lateral direction, the right flap beingconfigured to open in a substantially lateral direction.
 37. The garmentof claim 32, the left flap partially overlapping the right flap.
 38. Thegarment of claim 15, further comprising: an upper back opening; and alower back opening.
 39. A method of manufacturing a medical garment, themethod comprising the steps of: providing a selectably-openable upperfront opening located near the chest area of the medical garment, theselectably-openable upper front opening being substantially covered byan upper flap, the upper flap being configured to selectably open andclose over the upper front opening; providing a selectably-openablelower front opening located near the abdomen area of the medicalgarment, the selectably-openable lower front opening being substantiallycovered by a lower flap, the lower flap being configured to selectablyopen and close over the lower front opening.
 40. The method of claim 39,further comprising the steps of: providing an upper securing mechanismconfigured to releasably secure the upper flap to cover the upper frontopening when the upper flap is closed; and providing a lower securingmechanism configured to releasably secure the lower flap to cover thelower front opening when the lower flap is closed.
 41. The method ofclaim 39, further comprising the steps of: providing an upper holdingmechanism configured to releasably secure the upper flap to cover theupper front opening when the upper flap is closed; and providing a lowerholding mechanism configured to releasably secure the lower flap tocover the lower front opening when the lower flap is closed.